From August 28 until September 13, our Sacramento area equipment appraisal office was shockingly quiet. No electronic humming of computers and printers, no out-going phone calls, no inter-office chatting, no consulting or report composing. No farm equipment down in Modesto or rolling stock up in Yuba City got appraised. No asset lists for ag processing or manufacturing facilities was reviewed. Nada. Ziltch. Nothing.
Not one single USPAP Equipment Appraisal Report was researched, written, or delivered.
The machinery and equipment appraiser shut down shop and took a well-deserved holiday.
We drove up to Tuolumne Meadows, got a wilderness permit, and headed out to the backcountry where the only equipment available for any kind of appraisal would be a water filter, camp stove, and the occasional fly fisherman’s rod. Oh, and some packer’s gear in the mule train led by the fellow who explained that the great plume of smoke several miles distant along our prospective trail was lightening strike that’d been smoldering for 3 weeks and certainly no danger to our backpacking goals. We trudged on, content to have such good news from the first person we’d seen in 4 days.
Before we left, I’d spent the final week in a whirl-wind of completion. You know how it is! Had to finalize, print, send & discuss an equipment appraisal report on the fair market value in continued use/fair market value forced liquidation for a metalworking business, including a hefty rolling stock list. Had to finish up a small but hard-deadline ag equipment review for a family law matter. Had to review a spreadsheet of Subject Assets, calculate and submit a proposal to a bank regarding an a collateralized loan for an large-scale optics manufacturer. Had to “change the message on the Code-a-Phone,” as John Hiatt croons in his “Memphis in the Meantime.”
That and much more received our rapt and complete attention before we got our backpacks packed and the car filled with gas to hit the road for our long-awaited 2 weeks of no road.
We had a great time on the trail! California has some of the most amazing scenery in the world and we were deep in the spectacular heart of it. You can see a few pictures of the scenery on the NorCalValuation Picassa site; even though our vacation is not directly related to the equipment appraisal services we offer here at NorCalValuation, time off, studies conclusively show, results in increased production and work-related happiness. We can all use a little of that!
Jack Young, ASA, CPA
NorCalValuation.com
